TY - JOUR
T1 - Sovereign wealth funds targets selection
T2 - A comparison with pension funds
AU - Boubakri, Narjess
AU - Cosset, Jean Claude
AU - Grira, Jocelyn
N1 - Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge financial support from HEC Montreal and Institut de Finance Mathematique de Montreal (IFM2) as well as the UAE University (Start-up grant # G00001589 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2016/5/1
Y1 - 2016/5/1
N2 - This paper investigates the determinants of sovereign wealth funds' (SWFs) decisions to invest in publicly traded firms in comparison to pension funds. Using a sample of 344 firms targeted by SWFs over the 1991-2011 period and a control sample of 663 firms targeted by pension funds, we find that SWFs, in comparison to pension funds, are more likely to invest in firms operating in strategic industries as defined by Fama and French (1997) (financial sector, natural resources, mining, transportation, telecommunication and utilities) and in countries with sustainable economic growth and weak legal and institutional environment. Our findings are robust to disproportional size of some SWFs, their financing sources, their transparency level and acquisition activities during the recent financial crisis.
AB - This paper investigates the determinants of sovereign wealth funds' (SWFs) decisions to invest in publicly traded firms in comparison to pension funds. Using a sample of 344 firms targeted by SWFs over the 1991-2011 period and a control sample of 663 firms targeted by pension funds, we find that SWFs, in comparison to pension funds, are more likely to invest in firms operating in strategic industries as defined by Fama and French (1997) (financial sector, natural resources, mining, transportation, telecommunication and utilities) and in countries with sustainable economic growth and weak legal and institutional environment. Our findings are robust to disproportional size of some SWFs, their financing sources, their transparency level and acquisition activities during the recent financial crisis.
KW - Investment strategy
KW - Pension funds
KW - Sovereign wealth funds
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U2 - 10.1016/j.intfin.2016.01.004
DO - 10.1016/j.intfin.2016.01.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84962942603
VL - 42
SP - 60
EP - 76
JO - Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money
JF - Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money
SN - 1042-4431
ER -
